Tag Archives: Russian Collections

Trained in the finest traditions of the great master artists of the past, the Surikov trained artist’s paintings share a similarity in approach but also exhibit a lot of variety. Among other things, these artists were known for their subtle tonalities which blend together to create an overall harmony. Visit Lazare Gallery to experience the genius of their work.

Founded by Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973), heiress to the Postum Cereal Company, which later became General Foods, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens houses over 17,000 works of art. The collection includes one of the largest and most important collections of Russian art outside Russia, comprising pieces from the pre-Petrine to the early Soviet periods. Through Hillwood’s collection, this lecture will explore the history of acquiring imperial Russian art in the United States.

Organized and sponsored by the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. Co-sponsored by the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the Carl H. and Martha S. Lindner Center for Art History (McIntire Department of Art).

This lecture will take place in 211 Nau Hall on the University of Virginia campus.

The Byrne Gallery celebrates its 21st anniversary this year with a celebration and exhibition of the vivid oil and enamel paintings of internationally-acclaimed artist Yuri Gorbachev. The Byrne Gallery welcomes Yuri Gorbachev for his 13th consecutive exhibition in Middleburg, Virginia. The Gallery will feature new works from his 2016 museum world-tour and the exhibition will continue through January 08th, 2017. The Byrne Gallery is located at 7 West Washington Street in Middleburg, Virginia. Gallery hours are Monday and Tuesday by appointment only. Wednesday through Saturday 11AM to 5PM and Sundays Noon to 5PM. Phone: (540)687-6986

The Imperial Tsarevich Easter Egg was presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in 1912. The egg is cleverly constructed to appear as if it is carved from a single piece of lapis lazuli. It actually has six lapis lazuli sections. The joints are concealed under the elaborate gold decorations that include double-headed eagles, a symbol of imperial Russia. The top of the egg is set with a table diamond (a thin, flat diamond) that covers the Cyrillic monogram AF (for Alexandra Feodorovna) and the date 1912. The base features a large solitaire diamond.

The interior of the egg contains the platform that rises to reveal the surprise inside the egg.

The surprise is a diamond-set, double-headed eagle standing on a lapis lazuli pedestal.

Tsar Nicholas II gave the Imperial Rock Crystal Easter Egg to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in 1896 for their second Easter as a married couple—just two months before their coronation. The base of this egg is decorated in champlevé enamels and set with rose-cut diamonds. Its upper register features the monogram of Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Alexandra Feodorovna’s name and title before she married Nicholas in 1894. The new empress’s crowned monogram, in entwined enameled Cyrillic letters, appears on the lower base.

Inside the rock crystal egg are six pairs of miniature watercolor paintings on ivory by Johannes Zehngraf. They can be rotated by turning the twenty-seven-carat Siberian emerald at the top of the egg. Fabergé planned special themes for the imperial eggs that had personal meaning for the recipient. For this egg, he chose the locations that would evoke happy memories for the young empress.

Neues Palais, Darmstadt, Germany

Princess Alix was born on June 6, 1872, in the Neues Palais, or New Palace, in Darmstadt, the small capital city of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. The palace, built just six years earlier, was set in a large park beside a lake.

Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Winter Palace was the official residence of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna—and the location of their wedding ceremonies. Today, painted green with white trim, it serves as the main building of the State Hermitage Museum.

Jagdschloss Kranichstein, Darmstadt, Germany
Young Alix spent summer holidays at Kranichstein, a castle on the outskirts of Darmstadt. Once a hunting retreat for Hessian dukes, it became one of her family’s summer residences after the Neues Palais was completed.

Schloss Wolfsgarten, near Darmstadt, Germany
This hunting lodge, established between 1722 and 1724 by Landgrave Ernest Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, is a former hunting seat of the ruling family of Hesse-Darmstadt. From 1879, Wolfsgarten was the favorite country retreat for Grand Duke Ludwig IV, father of Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (later Empress Alexandra of Russia).

Veste Coburg, Coburg, Germany
In 1826, the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was created. Through a successful policy of political marriages, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha established links with several of the major European dynasties, including that of the United Kingdom. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the husband of Queen Victoria, grandmother of Princess Alix of Hesse (later Empress Alexandra of Russia).

Cathcart House and Congregational Church, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
It was in Cathcart House, a boarding house on Prospect Place, West Park, Harrogate, that Princess Alix and her lady-in-waiting, Gretchen von Fabrice, came to stay under the name of Baroness Startenburg when she travelled in May 1894 to Harrogate to take the famous baths and to undergo a treatment for her sciatica.

Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, Germany
On April 20, 1894, shortly after the wedding of her brother, Grand Duke Ernest Ludwig of Hesse, Alix accepted Nicholas’s proposal of marriage at the Schloss Rosenau. This palace also had special meaning for Alix’s grandmother, Queen Victoria, whose late husband, Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, was born there.

Windsor Castle, near London, England
Windsor Castle, set amid rolling hills west of London, was the residence of Alexandra’s grandmother, Queen Victoria. There, in the summer of 1894, Nicholas presented his formal engagement gifts to Alix. Tsar Alexander and Maria Feodorovna sent her an extravagant necklace of pearls, designed by Fabergé at a cost of a quarter of a million rubles.

Alexander Palace, Tsarskoe Selo, Russia
The Alexander Palace in Tsarkoe Selo (“tsar’s village”), located fifteen miles south of St. Petersburg, became the preferred residence of Nicholas and Alexandra and their children. The west wing of this relatively small yellow and white palace offered them a quiet, safe haven from the complexities of life in St. Petersburg.

Balmoral Castle, Scotland
Balmoral, Queen Victoria’s summer residence in the Scottish Highlands, was Alix’s favorite among her grandmother’s numerous homes. Nicholas and Alexandra visited Balmoral during their customary state visits after the coronation. Although the weather during one stay was rainy and cold, Alexandra wrote, “It has been such a very short stay and I leave dear, kind Grandmama with a heavy heart.”

Anichkov Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia
Anichkov Palace was the St. Petersburg residence of Tsar Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna. Nicholas brought his new bride back to this childhood home after their wedding. Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna greeted them there with bread and salt, the traditional Russian welcome.

Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England
Young Alix was a frequent summer visitor to Osborne House, one of Queen Victoria’s royal residences. In 1894 Nicholas visited his new fiancée, Alix, and Queen Victoria at this palatial home overlooking the strait that separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.

The Imperial Rock Crystal Easter Egg was kept in Alexandra Feodorovna’s study in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg from 1896 to 1917. Lillian Thomas Pratt acquired it in New York from Hammer Galleries in 1945.

The Imperial Pelican Easter Egg was presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, in 1898. The egg commemorates the 100th anniversary of the charities and educational institutions she directed, which were founded by an earlier Russian empress who also took the name Maria Feodorovna (Alexander I’s mother, who was born Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, 1759–1828).

The pelican that gives the egg its name stands at the top in a nest holding three chicks. The bird was the official symbol of the dowager empress’s charities and institutions, as well as a recognized symbol of maternal care that recalls the sacrifice of Christ: the pelican tears her flesh so that her children may feed and live.
This red-gold egg unfolds into eight oval frames rimmed with pearls. Each frame contains a miniature on ivory by the imperial court painter Johannes Zehngraf of one of the many educational institutions and charities that Maria Feodorovna directed until 1917.

The egg is engraved with two Biblical quotations in Old Slavonic: to the left of the pelican, “Visit this vine” (Ps 80:14, AV), which was the motto of the dowager empress’s institutes for the betterment of women; to the right, “Ye shall live also” (Jn 14:19, AV), which was associated with her charities and appeared on the uniform buttons of the employees of both her charities and educational institutions.
Fabergé carefully designed the egg so that Maria Feodorovna could read the inscriptions when it was both open and closed.
The frames are held upright by a flat gold stand, engraved with symbols of science and the arts, hinged between the fourth and fifth frames. This is one of relatively few imperial eggs that still has its original stand.

As of October 1, 2016, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has completed a digitization project of Lillian Thomas Pratt’s archive at the museum. Nearly 200 items in the collection can be browsed on the VMFA’s Faberge Collection page.

Imperial Easter Eggs

Fabergé’s greatest triumph was the series of fifty-two imperial Easter eggs made for the last Romanov tsars of Russia. In keeping with the traditional Russian custom of giving decorated eggs at Easter, Tsar Alexander III commissioned the first imperial Easter egg in 1885 as a gift for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. This white-enameled First Hen Egg opened to reveal a gold yoke. Nested inside were a hen, a diamond-set crown, and two ruby pendant eggs. The sequence of gifts so pleased the empress that her husband gave her a Fabergé egg containing a surprise every Easter after that for ten years. In 1894, following Alexander III’s unexpected death, the new tsar, Nicholas II, gave Fabergé eggs to both his widowed mother and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Nicholas continued his father’s annual tradition except for the years 1904 and 1905, which were disrupted by war and revolutionary uprisings. In all, forty eggs were delivered to Nicholas II. Two additional eggs were planned and partially created for Easter 1917, but Nicholas abdicated before they were finished. All of the remaining Romanov treasures, including many of the imperial Easter Eggs, were confiscated in 1917 by order of the Provisional Government. Eventually, some of these objects were sold to raise much-needed capital for the Soviet Union’s massive industrialization campaign that began in the late 1920s. Lillian Thomas Pratt acquired the five imperial eggs on view in this gallery between 1936 and 1945.

Fabergé’s greatest triumph was the series of fifty-two imperial Easter eggs made for the last Romanov tsars of Russia. In keeping with the traditional Russian custom of giving decorated eggs at Easter, Tsar Alexander III commissioned the first imperial Easter egg in 1885 as a gift for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. This white-enameled First Hen Egg opened to reveal a gold yoke. Nested inside were a hen, a diamond-set crown, and two ruby pendant eggs. The sequence of gifts so pleased the empress that her husband gave her a Fabergé egg containing a surprise every Easter after that for ten years. In 1894, following Alexander III’s unexpected death, the new tsar, Nicholas II, gave Fabergé eggs to both his widowed mother and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Nicholas continued his father’s annual tradition except for the years 1904 and 1905, which were disrupted by war and revolutionary uprisings. In all, forty eggs were delivered to Nicholas II. Two additional eggs were planned and partially created for Easter 1917, but Nicholas abdicated before they were finished. All of the remaining Romanov treasures, including many of the imperial Easter Eggs, were confiscated in 1917 by order of the Provisional Government. Eventually, some of these objects were sold to raise much-needed capital for the Soviet Union’s massive industrialization campaign that began in the late 1920s. Lillian Thomas Pratt acquired the five imperial eggs on view in this gallery between 1936 and 1945.

The Cold War Museum
The Cold War Museum has over $3 million in Cold War era artifacts in storage waiting to be displayed. The collection includes over 3,000 books, a 5,000 sq ft Cuban Missile Crisis Display, an SA-2 Missile, Nike Missiles, items from the USS Pueblo, USS Liberty, the U-2 Incident, Berlin Airlift, Corona Spy Satellite program, US and Soviet space programs, USMLM, and a variety of related Cold War items from international events and activities.

The Cold War Museum is a charitable organization dedicated to education, preservation, and research on the global, ideological, and political confrontations between East and West from the end of World War II to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Cold War Museum is cultivating relationships with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Besopasnosti (KGB), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Archives, federal, state, and local entities, for-profit and non-profit organizations, worldwide veteran organizations, and individual citizens.

Lazare Gallery: Russian Art Gallery
Located in rural Charles City County, Virginia, far from the capitals of the fashionable art world, Lazare Gallery is nonetheless the epicenter of the West’s discovery of the surpassing beauty of Russian Realism.

The gallery recognizes the importance of and focus on the most skilled artists of the Moscow School of Russian Realism, the world’s greatest realism art movement of the 20th Century.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
In 1947 Lillian Thomas Pratt bequeathed to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts her remarkable collection of more than 400 Russian objects, including five Imperial Easter Eggs and approximately 170 additional works from the House of Fabergé. The collection is off-view as it travels to venues in North America and East Asia.

Here you can find a comprehensive listing of Russian-related and Russian-language holdings at libraries in Virginia. If your library has items pertaining to Russia and you would like to be listed, please let us know by using the contact form here.

State and Public Libraries

1. The Library of Virginia contains approximately 1700 items pertaining to Russia, which can be browsed here (click on “Advanced Search”, and in the first box under “Search Here” type in the word “Russia”). The collection includes Congressional briefings, maps, archival papers, and books on a wide variety of subjects including history, agriculture, literature, and politics.

2. The Alexandria Library catalog contains approximately 1,800 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, travel, Russian language learning, and films. Approximately 50 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

4. The Amherst County Public Library catalog contains just over 250 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, politics, government, and intelligence.

5. The Appomattox Regional Library catalog contains approximately 800 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, biography, and drama. Nearly twenty of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

6. The Arlington Public Library catalog contains approximately 2,000 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as music, fiction, politics, and history. Approximately 25 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

7. The Augusta County Library catalog contains approximately 950 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box). Approximately 20 of the items are Russian-language; within the search results, click on the “Set Limits” button and select “Russian” from the Language menu.

8. The Bedford Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,300 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, biography, and juvenile literature. Approximately 20 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

9. The Blackwater Regional Library catalog contains approximately 350 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, biography, and fiction.

10. The Blue Ridge Regional Library catalog contains approximately 650 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box). Approximately 5 of the items are Russian-language; within the search results, click on the “Set Limits” button and select “Russian” from the Language menu.

11. The Botetourt County Library catalog contains approximately 1,500 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, mysteries, and intelligence. Approximately 40 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

12. The Bristol Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,900 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, folklore, and films. Approximately 40 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

13. The Buchanan County Public Library catalog contains approximately 250 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, juvenile literature, and culture.

14. The Campbell County Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,300 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, biography, drama, and fiction. Approximately 20 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

15. The Caroline Library catalog contains approximately 200 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (please note: as of June 30, 2017, this link was very slow to load!). Most items cover topics such as history, biography, drama, and politics.

16. The Central Rappahannock Regional Library catalog contains approximately 2,200 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, biography, drama, and films. Approximately 50 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

17. The Central Virginia Regional Library catalog contains approximately 150 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, politics, and juvenile literature.

18. The Charlotte County Library catalog contains approximately 70 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box). Most items cover topics such as fiction, biography, and history.

19. The Chesapeake Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,400 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, biography, history, and intelligence. Approximately 70 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

20. The Chesterfield County Public Library catalog contains approximately 900 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and folklore. Approximately 30 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

21. The Clifton Forge Public Library catalog contains just over 150 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and World War I.

22. The Colonial Heights Library catalog contains approximately 150 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box and click on “Keyword”). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

23. The Craig County Public Library catalog contains approximately 50 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (note: this link was still not working as of June 30, 2017). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and drama.

24. The Culpeper County Public Library catalog contains approximately 800 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

25. The Cumberland County Public Library catalog contains approximately 550 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, politics, and World War II.

26. The Danville Public Library catalog contains approximately 250 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

27. The Eastern Shore Public Library catalog contains approximately 550 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, politics, and World War II.

28. The Essex Public Library catalog contains approximately 120 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, politics, and intelligence.

29. The Fairfax County Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,450 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the “Words or Phrase” search box). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, biography, and music. Approximately 30 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the “Words or Phrase” search box, and under “Language” select “Russian”).

30. The Fauquier County Public Library catalog contains approximately 650 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and travel.

31. The Fluvanna County Public Library catalog contains approximately 200 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box and click on “Keyword Search”). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

32. The Franklin County Public Library catalog contains approximately 375 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and culture.

33. The Galax-Carroll Regional Library catalog contains approximately 425 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, culture, and World War II.

34. The Gloucester County Public Library catalog contains approximately 425 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

36. The Hampton Public Library catalog contains approximately 675 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, economics, and culture.

37. The Handley Regional Library catalog contains approximately 850 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

38. The Henrico County Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,100 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, politics, and biography.

39. The Heritage Public Library catalog contains approximately 200 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, politics, and World War II.

40. The Highland County Public Library catalog contains approximately 60 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (click on “Highland County Public Library”, enter “Russia” into the search box and click on “Keyword”). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and culture.

42. The James L. Hamner Public Library catalog contains approximately 400 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography. Approximately 30 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

43. The Jefferson-Madison Regional Library catalog contains approximately 950 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, travel, and biography. Approximately 20 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

44. The Lancaster Community Library catalog contains approximately 160 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

45. The L.E. Smoot Memorial Library catalog contains approximately 300 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

46. The Lonesome Pine Regional Library catalog contains approximately 675 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, fiction, and biography.

47. The Loudon County Public Library catalog contains approximately 2,050 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, politics, and biography. Approximately 40 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

48. The Lynchburg Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,300 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography. Approximately 20 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

49. The Madison County Public Library catalog contains approximately 175 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box and click on “Keyword”). Most items cover topics such as history, biography, and culture.

50. The Mary Riley Styles Public Library catalog contains approximately 500 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box and click on “GO!”). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, travel, and biography.

51. The Massanutten Regional Library catalog contains approximately 750 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box and ensure that “words or phrase” is selected). Most items cover topics such as history, fiction, and politics. Approximately 50 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box; when the results display, click “Limit Search” above search box and select “Russian” under Language).

52. The Mathews Memorial Library catalog contains approximately 600 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box, and ensure that “ALL of these words” and “All headings” are selected in the boxes to the right of the search box). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

53. The Mecklenburg County Public Library catalog contains approximately 400 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

54. The Meherrin Regional Library catalog contains approximately 250 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

55. The Middlesex County Public Library catalog contains approximately 200 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, politics, and intelligence.

56. The Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library catalog contains approximately 600 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box and select “words or phrase” from drop-down menu. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, politics, and biography.

57. The Newport News Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,000 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, biography, and juvenile literature.

58. The Norfolk Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,800 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, politics, and biography.

59. The Northumberland Public Library catalog contains approximately 200 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, politics, and history.

60. The Nottoway County Public Library catalog contains just over 100 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

61. The Orange County Public Library catalog contains approximately 450 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and drama.

62. The Pamunkey Regional Library catalog contains approximately 500 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and religion. Approximately 30 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here (enter “Russia” into the search box; when the results display, click “Limit Search” above search box and select “Russian” under Language).

63. The Pearisburg Public Library catalog contains approximately 100 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here (click on “Pearisburg Public Library”, enter “Russia” into search box and click on “Keyword”). Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

64. The Petersburg Public Library catalog contains approximately 800 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography. Approximately 20 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

65. The Pittsylvania County Public Library catalog contains approximately 675 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and culture. Approximately 10 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

66. The Poquoson Public Library catalog contains approximately 400 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, fiction, and politics.

67. The Portsmouth Public Library catalog contains just under 600 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, politics, and biography.

68. The Powhatan County Public Library catalog contains approximately 250 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography. Approximately 50 of the items are Russian-language or similar, and can be browsed here.

69. The Prince William Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,100 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and World War II, and folklore. Approximately 10 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

70. The Pulaski County Public Library catalog contains approximately 200 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

71. The Richmond County Public Library catalog offers access to approximately 250,000 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Nearly all of those items are available online, and approximately 1,500 of them consist of physical items in the County’s locations. Most items cover topics such as science, medicine, foreign relations, history, and politics. Approximately 6,000 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

72. The Richmond Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,500 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, politics, and juvenile fiction. Approximately 170 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here (click “Limit Search” above search box and select “Russian” under Language).

73. The Roanoke Public Libraries‘ catalog (which encompasses the Roanoke County Public Library and Roanoke Valley Library branches) contains approximately 1,500 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, travel, and politics. Approximately 50 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

74. The Rockbridge Regional Library catalog contains approximately 430 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

75. The Russell County Public Library catalog contains approximately 300 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

76. The Salem Public Library catalog contains approximately 450 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and intelligence. Approximately 15 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

77. The Samuels Public Library catalog contains approximately 650 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

78. The Shenandoah County Public Library catalog contains approximately 500 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

79. The Smyth-Bland Regional Library catalog contains approximately 350 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history and culture.

80. The Staunton Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,100 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography. Approximately 15 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

81. The Suffolk Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,000 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and folklore. Approximately 10 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

82. The Tazewell County Public Library catalog contains approximately 450 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, travel, and politics.

83. The Virginia Beach Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,100 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and politics. Approximately 70 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

84. The Washington County Public Library catalog contains approximately 700 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and travel.

85. The Waynesboro Public Library catalog contains approximately 1,050 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

86. The Williamsburg Regional Library catalog contains approximately 1,230 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and biography.

87. The Wythe-Grayson Regional Library catalog contains approximately 425 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as history, biography, and World War II.

88. The York County Public Library catalog contains approximately 700 items related to Russia, which can be browsed here. Most items cover topics such as fiction, history, and intelligence. Approximately 20 of the items are Russian-language, and can be browsed here.

Explore the Trible Library’s guide to primary resources on Russia, the U.S.S.R., and the Soviet Union here, and the guide to primary resources on their leaders here.

2. Ferrum College’s Stanley Library contains approximately 3,100 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. The majority of items cover topics such as history, politics, international relations, and sociology.

3. George Mason University’s libraries contain approximately 15,000 physical Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. Approximately 10,000 of the holdings are books; about 1,100 of the holdings are Russian-language. Topics with greatest representation include politics, history, national security, literature, and Communism.

Explore the guide to primary resources on Russian, former Soviet Union, and Eastern European history here, and the guide to Russian language and literature here.

4. James Madison University’s libraries contain approximately 7,600 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. Approximately 400 of the holdings are Russian-language. The majority of items cover topics such as literature, culture, politics, history, and agriculture.

5. Norfolk State University’s Lyman Beecher Brooks library contains approximately 4,400 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. The majority of items cover topics such as history, law, politics, trade, culture, and religion.

6. Old Dominion University’s libraries contain approximately 6,100 physical Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. About 350 of these holdings are Russian-language. The majority of items cover topics such as the Soviet Union, Communism, regional issues, politics, and history.

7. Sweet Briar College’s library contains approximately 4,200 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. About 600 of these items are Russian-language. The majority of items cover topics such as history, politics, Communism, sociology, economics, and language.

8. University of Richmond’s Boatwright Memorial Library contains approximately 8,000 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here (note: this link was not working as of June 30, 2017). Approximately 300 of these holdings are Russian-language. The majority of items cover topics such as literature, history, politics, culture, and religion.

9. University of Virginia’s libraries contain approximately 220,000 items pertaining to Russia; about 102,000 of those items are Russian-language. The majority of items cover topics such as literature, history, politics, linguistics, religion, history, and philosophy.

10. Virginia Commonwealth University’s libraries contain approximately 18,000 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. About 6,000 of those holdings are Russian-language. The majority of items cover topics such as history, economics, politics, diplomacy, and current events.

11. Virginia Tech’s libraries contain approximately 177,000 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. About 4,400 of those holdings are Russian-language. The majority of items cover topics such as history, language and literature, archaeology, politics, economics, engineering, and philosophy.

12. Washington and Lee University’s library contains approximately 41,000 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. About 26,000 of those holdings are journal articles, and about 14,000 are books. The majority of items cover topics such as langauge and literature, history, politics, culture, biology, medicine, and architecture.

13. William & Mary libraries offer access to approximately 68,000 Russian-related holdings, which can be browsed here. About 21,000 of those holdings are books. The majority of items cover topics such as literature, history, law, geology, and agriculture.